I'm 20 years old and am contemplating going to my first meeting next week but am a bit nervous, am I likely to be the youngest person there? Also what can I expect and what are other peoples experiences of going to meetings when young?

One thing for sure, you will hear a message of hope and will be accepted.

More and more young people are coming in.

I am very happy for you on deciding to save your own ass at a young age!

Accepted the ABC's 01/04/95. (a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.(c) That God could and would if He were sought.

I'm 20 years old and am contemplating going to my first meeting next week but am a bit nervous, am I likely to be the youngest person there?

I use to visit a 'Youth meeting' back where I sobered up, it used to be on Thursdays. Some of the members were around your age but they already had 5-8 years under their belt. I use to love that meeting because they were more enthusiastic than the other meetings at the same club house. The kids would immediately bring the newcomers into their "gang" sharing experience strength and hope and nudging the newcomer into the 12 steps quickly.

Show him, from your own experience, how the peculiar mental condition surrounding that first drink prevents normal functioning of the will power (Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 92)

I thought I was young when I started going to meetings at 26, but then I made friends with folk younger than me. I hung out with an 18 year old, in fact. The great thing was that age really made no difference. It was the first place I felt at home -- a great sense of belonging, in fact.

You could call Alcoholics Anonymous in your phone book and ask if there are any meetings where a younger crowd is more common to be seen. But age wasn't any determinant in my experience.

The number and age of young people attending A.A. meetings will vary depending on location. Where I live and attend f2f A.A. meetings there are several young people who attend A.A. meetings, some are still in high school and some are Pingu's age or a couple of years older. If you don't see any people at or near your age at f2f A.A., please don't let that stop you. We are glad you are here, there are no age requirements. Our only purpose is to help alcoholics to stop drinking.

There's a good chance you will be the youngest there, but that just means you are getting there sooner. Which could be the difference between life and death.

I'm 27 and have been attending for the past two months. At first it didn't sink in and I relapsed, but this was due to my doubts and my pride. Today I celebrated 30 days without a drink and I must say my life has been starting to turn round.

I'm usually the youngest at most meetings I go to but that's just my area. Age gap means nothing, you will be surrounded by lovely warm like minded people who don't want anything from you, they just want to help you escape from the problems you are having and achieve a level of peace and happiness with yourself.

Joining AA has been the best thing I have done in my life, I have done more to progress my life in the past month than I have in 27 years. It's all thanks to the people in AA, I had no love for life. It wasn't worth the minimal effort required.

Go to a meeting, the worst that can happen is nothing, nothing bad can come of it. Go and see if it's right for you. If it is, I recommend you give yourself to the programme fully. I've been told you only get what you put in, that seems to be a key to general life that has eluded me for my whole life.

I'm not the youngest in my meetings, but I'm new and younger than most. I can tell you that the meetings I've attended (6 in 5 days, new people for me at every one) showed me that EVERYONE was welcoming. The miracle of these meetings, is that (in my experience) noone enters the meetings with an ego. Even the 30+ years sober. Everyone recognizes that we are all on even ground when we walk in.

The same goes for "social status". It all stays outside. I think that's why everyone starts with... "I'm Mike and I'm an alcoholic". That reminds us that we're all at the same level.

Not sure if my comments are relevent to your question, but that's what it made me think of.

I was in my mid-teens when I first started attending meetings. I used to flit in and out of recovery back then. Being the wilful idiot that I am, I used my age as an excuse to suffer some more and my sobriety date ultimately ended up being in my mid-twenties (I've been sober 7 years now, one day at a time)... by that time I had the desperation necessary to look for the similarities not the differences, to identify and not compare. I was more conscious of my age than anyone else in the room, and together with my other resentments and stubbornness it only gave me the best part of a decade of suffering. Looking back, for some reason, I used to pick up big resentments in meetings when people commented on my age, had a resentment about "having to stop" young, resentments that the best years of my life had been wasted on drink. Eventually, belatedly, I started working the steps, started tackling these resentment and discovered the joy of living, that the best years of my life are potentially ahead of me. So, I've been to YPAA meetings and meetings where I've been the youngest by forty years... it's the same disease and the same solution. Generally people are glad that someone young has come in early and been spared extra-years of suffering. It's a great thing about the fellowship that we can strike up friendships across age boundaries, social boundaries, etc. But I would say this: sometimes in my teens, going to meetings in a small rural town where there were a handful of AAers mostly in their 60s, I found that old-timers could bet a bit sceptical about whether a younger person who'd found out about AA over the internet could really be an alcoholic, but by the time I came in for the last time, in a city in another country, nobody was sceptical (I was physically ruined). I've been back to meetings in my hometown and found fellowship and identification there. I've found it to be mostly about my attitude to the meeting, whether I try to contribute as an active member of the fellowship or whether I expect to be served as a passenger. Honest sharing helps people understand where we're coming from.

Oliver

Oliver"In exchange for bottle and hangover, I have been given the keys to the kingdom."